Chased (Sonadow)
by SilenceOfSanctuary
Summary: Can Sonic and Shadow survive being endlessly stalked by G.U.N. soldiers? And what do they want with Shadow anyway? Find out! (Rated M for future chapters.)
1. Prologue

"Sonic, just hang on!" Shadow cried, kneeling and lifting the wounded blue hedgehog up in his arms, even as gunfire sounded and bullets flew over his head. Keeping his head down, Shadow took off into the cover of the trees, hearing the yapping of dogs behind him. Without his jet shoes, he couldn't run nearly as fast as before, but he'd have to make due.

"Sonic, wake up! Please!" Shadow begged, shaking the bloody limp body in his arms. The blue blur was unconscious and, for the moment, down for the count. More gunfire rang out and Shadow dodged behind a tree, hearing bullets imbed into the wood of the trunk. Without thinking, the black hedgehog kept running as hard as he could, cradling his precious cargo against his chest, tears rolling down the sides of his face.

"Aghhhhh!" He cried out as his ankle snagged on a branch and brought him face-first to the ground. Sonic's limp body landed hard and rolled away from him toward—

"NO!" Shadow shot an arm out, his hand snatching wildly, just missing Sonic's shoe. Sonic's body fleetingly slipped over the edge of the snow-covered cliff, disappearing from sight. Yanking himself free, Shadow dove off the cliff headfirst, barely missing behind struck by a barrage of shells. "SONIC!" The black hedgehog grabbed his companion with one arm, pulling the blue hedgehog against him. Sonic's eyes blinked open faintly, and he smiled briefly.

"Shadow…" Obliviously, Sonic leaned forward and placed his lips against Shadow's own. The black hedgehog froze in surprise and shock but his eyes closed, even as they fell together. Their first kiss…in a place like this. Shadow internally shook his head. Sonic really could pick a place.

Shadow held a hand out and a green Chaos Emerald appeared in his palm, which he grasped tightly. Sonic fell cataleptic once more. Shadow embraced the blue hedgehog against him, looking at his closed eyes.

_You stupid hedgehog…you're such a nuisance. Do not misunderstand though…you are worth the trouble._

In a flash of green light, the two were gone.


	2. Information

_A Few Days Before…_

"Hey Shadow!" A familiar blue blur called out, making Shadow stop in his tracks. A vein popped up in his forehead, throbbing in annoyance.

_Not…you…again…_

"What's up, faker?" Sonic said as he skidded to a halt beside the black hedgehog. Shadow glanced at him for a moment and crossed his arms over his chest, letting out his usual grunt of hello. "Come on Shadow, you can muster better than that! No 'go away, faker' or anything?!" Shadow just stared at him, his crimson eyes dark with some foreign emotion.

"Fine. Go away, faker." His voice was weak and lacked its normal conviction and anger.

"That was so not your best effort!" Sonic jumped around Shadow, looking as though he had eaten a mountain of sugar before coming.

Shadow groaned softly, the vein throbbing even harder.

_Just go away…_

"Hey, Tails wanted me to find you. Apparently the information you wanted Tails has already been able to get." Shadow looked into the azul hedgehog's jade eyes, getting lost in them for a moment before snapping back to reality.

"Very well…" With that he followed his blue opposite into the forest. Yet even Shadow's keen senses were unaware that their every move was being observed in the closest of manners.

* * *

_An Hour Later…_

"Here you go, Shadow. Everything you wanted." The young yellow kitsune spoke, holding out a red folder. Shadow reached forward and took it, tucking it under his arm before turning and heading for the door.

"He doesn't even get a thank you for doing all this for you?" Sonic's voice sounded; when Shadow stopped and turned his head the blue hedgehog stared at him with his arms folded over his chest, looking disdainful. Shadow slowly looked back at the fox.

"You have my gratitude, Tails." That was all he spoke before he took out his green Chaos Emerald and vanished in a flash of light.

"Man…He can be a real pain." Sonic mumbled, bending over to stretch his back. Tails snickered and turned back to his computer, typing away at the keyboard.

"You're the one who likes him." Tails giggled and Sonic gave him a half-lidded gaze before sprinting out the door. Tails smiled at his best friend's retreating back and went back to clicking away. He sighed softly.

"Clueless."


	3. Chase

_The next day..._

Shadow found himself once again flipping through the small stack of papers Tails managed to retrieve from Dr. Eggman's base at his request. The red folder held more information to the black hedgehog than any of his blurry, incoherent memories or even his friends had managed to give him.

Sticking his hand inside, he randomly chose a page and pulled it out, holding it up to eye level and examining it closely. It was a sketch of him from when the scientists of the ARK were beginning preparations for the experiments which would eventually lead to Shadow's creation. It was an early sketch, the paper yellowed with age, and it closely resembled the blue blur himself, as the men were trying to capture all of his capabilities.

_I wonder if they were trying to make me look like him..._

Shadow slipped the paper back inside the red folder, slowly closing it and hiding it away inside one of his dresser drawers beneath a hidden slip in the wood of the underside. He stole his way from the room, locking the door behind him, before leaving his shared home with his friend Rouge the Bat, who had been away on a mission for G.U.N. for almost three months. He walked quietly into the woods, his mind fast at work.

"Hey..."

Shadow whirled around at the sound of the voice and discovered Sonic standing behind him, leaning against a tree three feet from him with his arms crossed loosely over his chest.

_I...I didn't even notice him..._

"What do you want?" Shadow spat, trying his best to retain his usual annoyance with the blue hedgehog. Sonic slowly stood upright and moved away from the tree, his arms falling to his sides with his hands on his hips. His trademark grin slowly spread across his muzzle as he held up a sparkling green gem.

_M-my Chaos Emerald!_

"How the hell did you get that?" Shadow growled low, his hands tightening into fists and a warm shiver running up his spine at the thought of blue invading his personal space to get the gem. His quills raised slightly in his anger, despite his attempts to calm himself.

_This is so unlike myself, dammit._

"Doesn't matter. All that matters now is what you plan to do about it, Shads!" With that, Sonic took off into the trees, wind kicking up in his wake. Shadow was right behind him, growling in annoyance.

"Give it back!" Shadow yelled, snatching at the blue hedgehog, yet all his attempts to grab Sonic were thwarted by blue's quick reflexes. Shadow clenched his fists as he forced all of his chaos energy into his shoes, pushing himself faster than he had ever gone before. The flames flared violently as the grass below his shoes turned a smoky black from the heat.

The two hedgehogs were racing across a steep cliff; Sonic was headed for an open plain further down the mountain. At the speeds they were going, one false move could mean a deadly injury. Sonic vaulted over a fallen tree, with Shadow right on his heels.

_Dammit you!_

"AGHH!" Shadow had tried to snatch the emerald out of Sonic's hand again, but he hadn't been paying attention to where his feet were going. A stray branch caught his ankle and he went flying...right over the edge of the cliff.

"Shadow!" Sonic skidded and changed directions, throwing himself off the rocky edge and grabbing onto the black hedgehog. "Hold on!" Despite their best efforts to do so, the two were thrown apart as they crashed into the steep rocky hill. Sonic tucked himself into his ball form, raising his quills to protect his head.

Shadow...was not so lucky.

He had hit the side of his head on that first crash, and he tumbled down the hill, stunned and unable to protect himself, feeling the sharp edges of rocks gash and slice his skin. Sonic untucked himself and reached out, managing to grab the black hedgehog by his wrist. He pulled the stunned hedgehog against him, wrapping his arms around black's warm pelt, protecting him from the rocks.

After what felt like forever the two finally rolled and hit the grassy bottom of the hill. Sonic, battered and bruised, released Shadow when they finally came to a halt, laying out flat over the grass as the wind and plants stung at his wounds.

"Idiot..." Blue glanced over and caught Shadow glaring at him, yet he wasn't moving away. "I didn't need your help."

"Evidentially you did!" Sonic snipped back, a small trail of blood leaking from above his eye down across his nose. "You weren't protecting yourself!"

"That doesn't mean I need help!" Shadow shouted, getting up despite his bruises and cuts to lean over the blue hedgehog, his muzzle nearly as red as his stripes. "I don't need help from the likes of you!"

Sonic smirked from down on the ground, feeling the waving grass tickle the back of his quills. "You're really something, you know that?" Shadow's eyes widened in surprise; he moved back as Sonic slowly got to his feet, brushing bits of rock and dirt from his pelt.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Black asked, crossing his arms over his chest, his white chest fur stained red and brown and green from the fall. Sonic walked forward and caught some leaves from behind one of Shadow's right quills. He could feel his heart stutter at the blue hedgehog's touch.

"Forget it. Come on, Tails had some more stuff for you. He's been working like mad; he deserves some thanks from you." Sonic turned and started to walk away; he tilted his head to look back at the stunned hedgehog behind him. "Everyone deserves thanks from time to time."

Shadow shook his head and he jogged to catch up. "Depends on who you're asking for thanks from. Lots of people don't deserve it."

Sonic tucking his hands behind his quills, leaning his head back into them. "Are you saying Tails doesn't deserve it?"

"No...that's not what I mean."

"Then what?"

Shadow just shrugged and remained silent; it didn't appear that he would answer.

"You're a walking contradiction, you know that?" Sonic smirked, a small smile playing across his muzzle.

"I'm aware."

"You're too serious, Shadow. You need to let loose for once."

"I'll get right on that." Black's tone was quite clear that he would not. Suddenly he looked down and saw that Sonic had taken his hand and he stopped in shock. "W-what?"

"I was giving you back your emerald." Sonic turned his hand over and Shadow could see the sparkling, palm-sized green gem now in his fingers. "Seriously though, Tails is waiting for us." Sonic smirked and took off down the field, not using his best speed. He waved back at Shadow, urging him to follow.

With a soft growl, Shadow stowed the emerald away and followed in the blue hedgehog's wake.


End file.
